The man who was allegedly attacked by two farm workers‚ placed in a coffin and threatened that he would be doused with petrol‚ on Thursday painted a grim picture of life for black people living near the farms in JM De Beer Boerdery next to Komati Power Station in Mpumalanga.

“Where we stay as black people we are being victimised by the white people who own the farms‚” Victor Mlotshwa told the High Court sitting in Middelburg.

“These things are always reported to the police but nothing is ever done. What puzzles me the most‚ the vehicles [that some of the farmers drive] have emblems similar to the ones used by police. For me‚ this suggested that the accused worked with the police‚” Mlotshwa told the court.

Some of those in the court gallery murmured in agreement.

Mlotshwa was explaining to the court why it had taken him two months to lay a charge against two farmworkers who had attacked him.